We have
Wilhelm Fitzhagen, 'cellist in the premieres of Tchaikovsky's string quartets,
to thank for commissioning the charming and graceful Rococo Variations,
one of the composer's dalliances with past musical styles. Unfortunately,
we also have Fitzhagen to thank for the ensuing acts of vandalism.

In late
1876, Tchaikovsky produced a “short score” for Fitzhagen's consideration.
They agreed some emendations to the solo part, and Fitzhagen performed
it in this form late in 1877, while Tchaikovsky was abroad getting over
his abortive marriage. Subsequently, Fitzhagen further altered his part,
and substantially modified the whole. He also neglected to consult Tchaikovsky,
in whose continuing absence he took his “edition” to the publisher Jurgenson,
claiming the changes were “authorised”. Jurgenson, clearly unconvinced,
wrote to Tchaikovsky, saying, “Loathsome Fitzhagen! He is determined to
'cello-ise
your piece.”

Uncredibly,
Jurgenson nevertheless published Fitzhagen's “edition”. Tchaikovsky was
not amused, noting several “errors”, and not particularly mollified by
Fitzhagen's reports of favourable comment from Liszt. Worse followed. The
full score published in 1889 also was Fitzhagen's “edition”! Tchaikovsky
was furious, finally snorting (though this may have lost something
in translation), “The devil take it. Let it stand as it is!” And so it
did, for over fifty years. Tchaikovsky's original score is still rarely
heard.

Does it
matter? Well, yes, it does. Unlike, say, Sibelius' Fifth Symphony,
this is not a matter of “final” compared with “original” thoughts. In any
“classical” piece, formal considerations are necessarily paramount and
Fitzhagen, a blinkered virtuoso, has ignored and substantially damaged
the structure (see table below). Basically, he repeated both halves of
the theme, exchanged the Cadenza plus Variations 3 and 4 with Variation
7, and dropped Variation 8. I suspect this was an attempt to hog the limelight.
Unlike Variation 3, in Variation 7 his harmonics are “challenged” by the
violins. Placing the Cadenza and the two “showiest” variations later would
suit someone mindful that his living depended on his reputation. That this
left adjacent two similar variations was solved by omitting the “less impressive”
number 8. The two cadenzas were simply left adjacent.

There
is also the matter of the woodwind linking tune, first heard at the end
of the Theme. This Tchaikovsky developed at the ends of variations 1 to
3, within Variation 5, and recapitulated in its original form including
answering strings at the end of Variation 6. Having thus underlined a key
structural point, it retires. Fitzhagen moved this recapitulation to the
end of Variation 2, nonsensically preceding most of its “developments”!

Tchaikovsky,
in Variations 1 and 2, establishes a pattern: each pair comprises a slower
or more ornate variation and a livelier one. The work further divides into
a pair of similarly structured halves. Thus the first half ends with the
dynamic Variation 4, the second with Variation 8, less dynamic so that
the coda is not upstaged. Variation 1's 'cello decorations are reflected
by Variation 5's stately baroque. Cadenzas divide each half into two parts;
in the second half the cadenza is neatly telescoped into Variation 6. Both
cadenzas are followed by a lyrical adagio, the latter of which (nodding
to Romantic tradition) has the “big tune”.

This might
seem a lot of dust-dry academic fuss, particularly as Fitzhagen's version
has enjoyed popular success for so long. However, in my opinion, that is
entirely due to the individual appeal of Tchaikovsky's “jigsaw puzzle bits”,
whatever the batting order. Once completed, that puzzle reveals his skilfully
crafted picture, a miraculous whole far exceeding the sum of its parts.

Addendum
- Comparison of Order of Movements

Note
that in the Fitzhagen version endings of movements have also been moved
where these precede relocated variations, to maintain continuity with these
subsequent variations. This continuity is indicated by ellipses.

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